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Never Mind The Olympics? (Image via Wikipedia).

So punk.

The Sex Pistols recently turned down playing at the London Olympics. And now we know why.

The former Sex Pistols front man John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) says the U.K. can't afford to stage the Olympics in the middle of a global economic downturn. Oh, and he's also ashamed of the British government.

Last year rumors began circulating that surviving members of the Beatles, Sex Pistols, Rolling Stones and The Who might perform at the Olympic Closing Ceremonies. The London Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG) recently asked the groups to perform. There is yet no word from the Beatles, Rolling Stones or The Who (By the way, when LOCOG invited The Who they specifically requested drummer Keith Moon, who has been dead for 34 years).

The only group to publicly respond was the Sex Pistols, who turned down the offer outright, yet gave no reason. Until now.

"I can't back the Olympics. They tried to involve us but without any respect - they just wanted to use my ideas, our artwork, our lifestyle, but take it away from us and reconstitute it in this happy-go-lucky world of Olympic nonsense.

"You cannot co-opt us into the s**tstem (sic). There's a lot of unemployment, and I'm seeing money wasted on people running and splish-splashing about and throwing things? We cannot afford that. It's going to leave an incredible debt; as soon as it's ended, the prices (of goods) and the taxes are all going to go up."

"The Olympics Are Trying To Steal My Brand" (Image via NME).

Lydon admitted he was "deeply ashamed" of the British government and how it handled the riots in London last summer which, he said, was the start of something "far, far worse."

"I was very upset with [the riot]. People got killed. It was a great tragedy, a great tragedy caused by a government and a police force that's completely indifferent to what young people have as a future. They're given nothing now, even less than when I was young and that hurts me deeply.

"It's definitely going to lead to something far, far worse. It's brewing. It's palpable. You can feel the tension. It's waiting to go off like an enormous bomb. It will be blamed on the kids on the street, and it isn't their fault. I'm very deeply ashamed of a government that doesn't have a clue what's going on."

It's The Economy, Punk (Image via Wikipedia).

Earlier this month, Lydon distanced himself from re-release of Sex Pistols' "God Save The Queen," which coincides with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, Buckingham Palace's celebration marking 60 years of the Queen's reign.

"I would like to very strongly distance myself from the recent stories and campaign to push "God Save The Queen" for the number 1 spot over the Jubilee weekend," Lydon said in a statement. "It is certainly not my personal plan or aim. This campaign totally undermines what The Sex Pistols stood for. This is not my campaign."

On May 28, Lydon releases "The Drop," Public Image Ltd.'s first album in 20 years.